Every week, sportsnet.ca will chat with Sportsnet 590 The FAN commentator Greg Brady about the big stories and issues in the Premiership, and preview the weekend’s games.
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Sunday draws the curtain on the 2012-13 Premiership campaign. For you, what was the biggest story or development of the season?
Greg Brady: It was a season that didn’t have the drama of last year, but how could it match last year’s final Sunday, with the title and relegation spots both on the line. Chelsea was a team I pegged to finish second behind Manchester United for the title this season, and even to push them. They were very good the first few weeks, and then sacked Roberto Di Matteo, which was the big story early on.
Chelsea supporters were used to the liquidity of the managerial revolving door, but Di Matteo’s sacking cut deep. He was a club legend, and was linked to other club favourites in Gianluca Vialli and Gianfranco Zola, in addition to “subbing in” and bringing Roman Abramovich his first Champions League trophy. It all should have made him secure for a few years to come.
The players didn’t seem to support Di Matteo’s removal either which made for big news, and unlike André Villas-Boas’ sacking or even the departure of Carlo Ancelotti, with whom neither the players nor the fan base developed much of an emotional connection with, this was one that just wasn’t expected.
Outside of that, was there a team that was way better than we all thought? Well, Swansea as a top 10 squad was an achievement to be sure. Newcastle and Fulham really did underperform based on pre-campaign predictions, but outside of Manchester City getting thrashed badly in the Champions League for a second straight year, and not truly giving Manchester United a run for the title past December, not much surprised me.
What was the biggest disappointment and the biggest surprise of the season?
Brady: Well, the biggest disappointment was Newcastle. From a top five finish last season, and a spot ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool in the table to dreadful inconsistency, the selling of their best player by far in Demba Ba, to having to fight off relegation in their last few matches, and barely survive. It seemed their year in the Championship a few years back, though deserved at the time, was a one-off, and lessons were learned, priorities changed and consistency would follow under Alan Pardew, but much of that went out the window this season. A late “surge” of five points of the last 12 available isn’t fooling many people though. They need serious help and a marquee player to reassure their supporters that finishing between 13th and 16th isn’t a fait accompli over the next couple seasons.
As for a pleasant surprise, I’d go with the young guns at Chelsea. Yes, they spend like mad and the advancing ages of John Terry and Frank Lampard aren’t exactly precursors to being able to fight for the title, but I thought they had a great season given some pundits had tagged them finishing as low as sixth, and even a Europa League trophy is valued experience for some of their younger players. And let’s be honest, the kids they gave responsibilities to in Oscar and the exceptional Juan Mata all came through with flying colours and if they add a piece here or there, they easily could be title favourites. It’s tough to look at Chelsea and say they “surprised” people but I was pretty impressed with everything they accomplished given the club undertook a pretty weighty transition, though the Di Matteo sacking incensed me at the time.
What young player impressed you the most that it makes you think he might be the next big star in world football?
Brady: Well, Mata and Oscar would certainly make that list. Michu joining Swansea on a transfer from Rayo Vallecano was excellent all season and his presence, as I’ve noted before, certainly helped Canada’s Julian De Guzman in his first full Premier League season. Michu seems to have pledged to stay at Swansea, although you’d have to think it’s a matter of time before bigger clubs come swooping in and it’s obvious as well Michu will play more of a role with Spain going forward. His hamstring problem doesn’t sound terribly serious and he’d be smart to rest it as much as possible to be ready to dive into the fixtures full-bore in August.
I wouldn’t call Gareth Bale’s performance a “breakout” by any stretch but he certainly took the promise many had labelled him with and expanded it to where he simply was the best and most consistent player in the league for a long stretch, although Robin Van Persie shook off any pressures he had defecting from Arsenal and landing at Old Trafford.
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4) What did you make of the fact that not a single English team made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League?
Brady: I don’t think the failure in the Champions League was a major reflection on some of the mediocrity within English football’s top clubs, not by a long shot. To be objective, Manchester City drew an incredibly difficult assignment in the group stage and Chelsea’s young guns were facing that level of competition for the very first team, and grew to be more seasoned as the year went on as proven by their impressive Europa League string of victories.
Remember, Manchester City, for a brief moment, after the Aleksandar Kolorov goal, led Real Madrid 2-1, in the 86th minute in their opener and had they grabbed three points instead of a big fat zero in that match, maybe their fate would have been different. In addition, let’s face it, Borussia Dortmund was thought to be a bit of a “pesky” underdog in that group. They may very well win the Champions League final next weekend..
I’m just like anyone else in that I’ll rip on English football when it’s deserved but I don’t see the stumbles of a few clubs as anything other than random. Before this year, eight of the past 16 teams to play in the Champions League Final have been from the Premier League. In that span, only two Italian teams have made the Final, and only Barcelona has represented La Liga.
That said, it’s hard to see anyone but Chelsea or Manchester United making noise in the competition until Manchester City figures out how to do so, and until Arsenal either spends more money or gets a new manager. Arsene Wenger’s club has just seemed totally outmatched and overwhelmed in Europe for years now.
Where will Arsene Wenger end up next season? And what about Jose Mourinho?
Brady: Jose Mourinho ends up at Chelsea. It’s been a long seven years away but the time is right for a reunion and Chelsea supporters pray it’s a lengthy one. There literally are very few stones left to overturn to seek a replacement if he doesn’t work out. As for Wenger, I think it’s more of the same at Arsenal. Wenger’s not about to depart of his own volition, and especially with Alex Ferguson leaving, he and Arsenal management above him may see this as a great opportunity if United’s dominance begins to slip.
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